"We've got company!"

Shouts from around the camp woke Drew up, who instantaneously began readying himself for some prehistoric threat. The shout was followed by a slow, predatory-sounding hiss; some predator had found them. Drew's first thought was that the giant Tyrannosaurus from earlier had paid them a visit. However, when he got out of their tents, he soon realised what had truly given them cause for alarm. A theropod, about twenty feet long and six feet tall, stood in the centre of the camp, looking around hungrily. It looked like a smaller version of the Tyrannosaurus that they had encountered before; however, its muzzle was thinner, its legs proportionately longer and it was slightly less heavier-built. Its colour was also significantly lighter than the giant that they had encountered before. It was a half-grown Tyrannosaurus rex; a female by the looks of it.

Drew turned to his team and muttered, "Keep her distracted! I have an idea." Drew ran up to the only remaining containment truck and opened the door, before throwing some meat in it. The Tyrannosaurus smelt the meat and turned to look at them; she walked towards Drew, coming closer and closer. When he felt the dinosaur had gotten close enough, Drew dived out of the way, and the tyrannosaur charged towards the open truck and began feasting on the meat inside. Drew then closed the door to the containment truck, safely containing the tyrannosaur. He turned to his team, smirking, and said, "Ole."

With that out of the way, the team got back to work. However, Drew was a little impatient; twitchy was the word. Leon turned to his friend, curious, and asked, "Drew? Why are you so jumpy?" Drew turned to him and said, "We're running out of time; the meteor is just a day away, if that, and we're behind schedule. Yesterday, we didn't make much progress; today, we need to step it up."

Drew turned to his team and addressed them, "Right, guys; the meteor isn't far away and we're behind schedule. We found from our reconnaissance yesterday that the herbivores tend to stay near to the lake, whilst the carnivores prefer the outer edges. Get some smaller animals and wait for any herds that come by the lake." He turned to look at Jack, "Until I get back, Jack's in charge." Jack gave Drew a puzzled look, "Me?" He straightened and gave a little salute, "Thank you, fearless leader. I won't let you down. And, anyway, where are you going?"

Drew smiled, "I'm going on a reconnaissance on the north end of the valley to see if I can find that giant tyrannosaur. Given that tyrannosaurs were, most likely, pack hunters, there's going to be others nearby. Leon, could you drive me in one of the Jeeps to that end of the valley?" Leon nodded.

As Drew and Leon got ready to leave, Jack turned to Drew and said, "What happens if you don't come back?" Drew smiled, "If I don't make it back… please remember you're the ones who left me here." Jack's eyes widened, to which Drew said, in response, "Joking; I'll be alright." The Jeep revved and Drew and Leon left.

The Jeep drove to the north end of the valley, where Drew had seen the tyrannosaur tracks the day before. Drew turned to Leon and said, "This is a good place to stop." The Jeep stopped and Drew hopped out of the car. "By the way, tell Jack that if I don't come back and you guys run out of time, don't wait for me. I'm bringing the spare portal with me" Leon briefly looked around uncertainly, as if reluctantly processing his friend's request, before hanging his head and nodding, "OK", before driving off in the Jeep.

Meanwhile, Jack, Adrian, Alice and Cynthia were following a trail that they had found near camp, after setting several small animal traps by the lake and in the nearby forest. On the ground laid a multitude of footprints of different sizes, which had been identified as Edmontosaurus, Ornithomimus and Parksosaurus, leading from into a nearby forest. Before leaving, they had used fencing to make several corrals near camp for the herbivores they might find. These were just temporary; their deadline was getting closer and closer. Cynthia looked at the trail and said, "We're getting close. I'd say we turn left and we'll find them." Her statement was confirmed by a loud, honking bellow from a nearby clearing. Following the call, they saw the herd of Edmontosaurus browsing from the trees, rearing up on their hind legs and pulling branches to their mouths. The Ornithomimus were browsing on the lower level plants, whilst the Parksosaurus were feeding on what other herbivores had dropped.

Jack looked at the giants and said, "Well, that's finding them done. Now, how are we going to get this lot back to camp?" Alice was the first to speak, "We could use the horn to shepherd them back." Jack shook his head, "It might agitate them and cause a stampede, which is the last thing we want." Adrian suggested, "We could use bait to lead them back" In response to that statement, Jack shook his head, "No; they're probably not going to respond to bait." Alice sighed, "So we're stumped then." Jack smiled at her, "Not necessarily…"

A few minutes later, the Edmontosaurus, Parksosaurus and Ornithomimus were on the move. They were accompanied by four containment trucks, corralling the herd; Jack was in the one in front, Cynthia was in back. Adrian drove the Jeep on the left, whilst Keehar sat in the passenger seat, whilst Alice drove the Jeep on the right; it was Jack who had suggested using the Jeeps to herd them back to camp. Jack noticed an Ornithomimus breaking off from the herd, in Alice's direction "Alice, that one's breaking off." Alice nodded and moved the Jeep in the animal's direction, herding it back to its companions. Eventually, the herd entered the fenced area and the gate was closed behind them. Shortly after, the Jeep Leon had took trundled into camp. Looking at the dinosaurs, he turned to them incredulously, "Did I miss anything?" Jack shrugged, "Sort of."

Meanwhile, Drew had been walking for a couple of miles now and had reached the area where he had seen the giant tyrannosaur footprints the day before. Whilst inspecting the ground to see for any other signs of Tyrannosaurus, his train of thought was suddenly cut off by a loud, grunting bellow. Looking curiously, he climbed over the hill to see a herd of Triceratops, of all ages and sizes.

Suddenly, a large male lifted his head and sniffed the air, turning to a nearby stand of forest. Drew turned to see a large dark shape moved stealthily through the scrubby trees, moving so fast that it was practically a blur. The herd immediately went on edge, looking around nervously.

Everything went calm… then a large male turned to look at something and let out a loid bellow. The shape, now visible as some large bipedal dinosaur, reappeared again, moving with a determined speed. The herd went stampeding down the hill, back to the lake. Drew briefly considered radioing his team to give them a heads-up, but shook his head; Jack could handle this. The dust cleared, revealing one older Triceratops had been left behind.

It was being pursued by a Tyrannosaurus rex. It was slightly smaller than the giant they had seen the day before; it was only about forty feet long. Its colouration was also slightly lighter and its body without the distinctive scars that had pockmarked the giant's body. Unlike the frantic terror of the elderly Triceratops movements, the tyrannosaur's movements were slow, calculating and patient. Bizzarely, the tyrannosaur appeared to be herding its target to the forest, occasionally snapping at its ankles so the Triceratops moved towards the trees. Once the Triceratops had gotten close enough, the male hung back, as if waiting.

When the Triceratops reached the trees, another Tyrannosaurus launched itself out of the forest, delivering a crippling bite to the ceratopsian's hindquarters. This tyrannosaur was slightly larger than the one before; however, it was still smaller than the giant. The injured ceratopsian dropped to its knees in a spray of blood. Approaching the injured animal, the larger tyrannosaur delivered a crippling bite to the Triceratops' throat; it was dead.

The two gigantic theropods began to feed, ripping chunks of the carcass. Drew, observing, noted the situation. Neither of the tyrannosaurs was the giant the team had seen yesterday and there were no other tyrannosaurs that had come to the kill; there was also the half-grown female found by the camp. Drew suddenly realised his earlier interpretation of the tyrannosaurs in the valley all being part of one pack was rather ill-thought out in hindsight. Given that this was the only green spot for miles, pretty much every tyrannosaur in the area would be attracted to this place.

Meanwhile, the two tyrannosaurs had eaten their fill. However, before they left, they tore some chunks of the meat off, including a forelimb, and carried them into the hills. Drew, watching them leave, decided to follow them; perhaps they were headed to a nest and, maybe, that would be where the rest of their pack was. It was a desperate gamble; after all, time was running out.

Back at camp, Jack and Leon were checking the small animal traps they had set around the camp. Apptoraching the first trap, they picked it up to find a small mammal inside, hissing at them. It was small, only about two feet long and looked like a cross between an otter and a Tasmanian devil. The creature's fur was largely grey, with white on the belly and snout and black on the back, limbs and tail. Leon gave a look, "Didelphodon. It's a marsupial found in the area. Given it doesn't have a pouch, it's probably a male". Jack looked at the trap and chuckled as the Didelphodon snapped at him, "Mean little bastard, isn't he?" Leon snorted, "Best be careful; its relative bite force was more powerful than a hyena's and it was big enough to eat baby dinosaurs." The Didelphodon, still hissing in outrage, was put in the back of the containment truck. Jack looked at Leon, "Let's get checking."

They only needed to move a little bit further to see their next trap. Rather than another Didelphodon, the trap contained a snake. It was about five feet long and looked a little like an African rock python, with scales arranged in yellow-brown blotches joined in a broad, irregular stripe, and with copper eyes. Jack looked, into the box, enthralled at the animal within. Leon chuckled and said, "Dinilysia. A primitive kind of boid; a female by the looks of her." Jack snorted, "I guessed that; she doesn't have any pelvic spurs. In boas and pythons, only males have them; I imagine extinct snakes weren't different in that regard." The next trap yielded another Didelphodon; this time a female with a litter of joeys in her pouch. They then went round to the five different areas around the lake they'd left the thirty-five small animal traps and loaded the animals that they had caught in them on to the Jeep.

After returning to camp, Jack addressed the rest of the team, "Right, we've made significant progress, but we've still got a lot to do and we're running short on time. So, from now, onwards, we really need to pick up the pace." He gestured to Leon, Alice, Cynthia and Adrian, "You lot are coming with me; we're going to head out in the containment trucks to herd any large herbivores we can find back to camp. The rest of you, get everything ready; we need to be able to ship out as fast as we can."

Meanwhile, Drew had followed the tyrannosaurs to a clearing at the top of the hill. Two young tyrannosaurs, slightly smaller than the half-grown female that they'd seen this morning emerged. One of them had a dead ornithopod hanging from its mouth, which it dropped and surreptitiously hid as its parents dropped a massive Triceratops forelimb onto the floor. The two youngsters dived on the Triceratops meat and eagerly began devouring it, whilst the parents rested in the fading afternoon sun. Drew smiled at the seeming peace of this family scene.

Suddenly, a throaty growl echoed through the clearing. All creatures turned to see the giant tyrannosaur from before heading up the hill, attracted by the smell of meat. Next to these smaller tyrannosaurs, the giant looked enormous. The two adult tyrannosaurs looked at the giant and roared defiantly at him, to which he responded by swishing his tail from side to side and hissing threateningly.

Drew realised two things at that moment; firstly, they were going to come to blows and, secondly, he was right in the middle of it. Perhaps this hadn't been such a good plan after all.